Simply final Thursday, the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) filed costs on the Workplace of the Ombudsman towards 4 development firms in addition to a number of officers and workers of the DPWH’s district engineering workplace in Bulacan over alleged kickbacks in authorities flood management tasks.
A complete of 25 people and 4 development firms have been included within the complaints for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Authorities Procurement Reform Act and malversation and falsification.
The contractors and DPWH workers have been charged in reference to 5 anomalous contracts in Bulacan following a just lately concluded Inside Audit Service inspection that exposed “a constant sample of fraudulent misrepresentation, falsification, collusion and blatant disregard of Fee on Audit rules throughout a number of contracts with the intention to impact the discharge of funds to contractors, however the non-performance or inadequate efficiency of the challenge.”
In the meantime, President Marcos has issued Govt Order 94 on Sept. 11 making a three-member unbiased advert hoc fact-finding fee that can prioritize the investigation of flood management and different infrastructure tasks throughout the final 10 years from the effectivity of the mentioned order.
Based on the order, there are studies and allegations of irregularities, misuse of funds and attainable corruption in authorities flood management and associated tasks, which, if true, endanger the security and safety of the Filipino individuals, threaten the welfare of varied communities and erode public belief in authorities establishments.
The mentioned fee is remitted to analyze, obtain, collect and consider proof, intelligence studies and knowledge on irregularities in authorities flood management and infrastructure tasks and can also be tasked with conducting hearings, taking testimony and issuing subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and manufacturing of paperwork obligatory for its investigation.
The mentioned physique shall additionally suggest the submitting of acceptable costs, whether or not legal, civil or administrative and suggest corrective actions and legislative measures to boost transparency and accountability in infrastructure packages.
Final Sept. 6, Govt Secretary Lucas Bersamin additionally instructed the Home of Representatives to heed the general public demand for full accountability for anomalous flood management tasks, saying all investigations into the anomalies can be futile if the sources of corruption stay unchecked.
The President has additionally ordered a complete assessment of the proposed DPWH price range below the 2026 Nationwide Expenditure Program to make the mandatory adjustments to make sure transparency, accountability and the right use of public funds.
Based on Transparency Worldwide’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, the Philippines ranks because the third most corrupt nation in Southeast Asia, with Myanmar and Cambodia taking the highest two spots. The nation can also be 18th out of 45 in Asia and 62nd out of 181 on this planet.
Again in 2021, the anti-corruption job power led by the Division of Justice recognized as graft-prone the DPWH, the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Inside Income, the Land Registration Authority and the Philippine Well being Insurance coverage Corp.
In 2016, the Ombudsman revealed that for 5 straight years, officers from native authorities items and members of the Philippine Nationwide Police topped the chart because the companies with the very best variety of instances filed with the Workplace of the Ombudsman. The Armed Forces of the Philippines positioned third, adopted by the Division of Schooling, Division of Surroundings and Pure Assets, state faculties and universities, the Division of Agriculture and the Division of Agrarian Reform.
Mainly, the whole authorities, each nationwide and native, is riddled with corruption.
With 15.5 % of Filipinos, or about 17.54 million, categorised as poor, that means that their revenue shouldn’t be adequate to satisfy their primary wants, to listen to about public servants throwing away billions of pesos in casinos solely provides insult to damage.
In Nepal, at the least 22 individuals have been killed and a whole bunch wounded in clashes in Kathmandu sparked by a authorities ban on social media platforms however pushed by deep-rooted resentment at rampant corruption by the nation’s political elite and an absence of financial alternatives for normal Nepalis.
Based on one information report, anger towards the federal government for what many view as rampant, decades-long corruption was already simmering, and it spilled into the streets of the capital after the federal government blocked social media platforms together with Fb, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and X, in a transfer that was broadly criticized by rights teams. Organizers say the protests should not solely in regards to the social media ban but in addition mirror generational frustration at poor financial alternatives.
A viral on-line motion towards “Nepo Youngsters” or politicians’ kids exhibiting off their lavish existence is fueling additional anger by highlighting the disparities between these in energy and common Nepalis, one report famous.
The nation’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and President Ramchandra Paudel have resigned amid Nepal’s worst unrest in many years whereas crowds set hearth to parliament within the capital of Kathmandu. Authorities buildings and the homes of political leaders have been attacked across the nation. The house of former PM Jhala Nath Khanal was set ablaze, killing his spouse. Former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba, a five-time premier, was badly injured after being crushed by a mob. His spouse, International Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, was dragged from her residence and assaulted.
We don’t anticipate the identical to occur within the Philippines, as Filipinos are recognized to be affected person, resilient and tolerant of abuses. And we sincerely hope that it gained’t.
We have been even profitable in overthrowing a dictatorship by way of a peaceable, non-violent revolution in spite of everything.
Sadly, that is the very purpose why our public officers should not afraid of us. And naturally, our system is conducive to corruption, given our deeply entrenched patronage-based politics, lack of transparency and accountability, weak anti-corruption establishments and poor citizen engagement, to call just a few.
We could possibly put individuals behind bars however until institutional reforms are put in place, a brand new set of corrupt public officers will simply take over.
Placing an finish to corruption in authorities is the one technique to get us out of poverty.
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